Wrapping machine



H. Z. COBB WRAPPING MACHINE May15,1928. L l 1,670,137

Filed June l5, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 '0 f? U g y -Fs gnou/woz n- HENRY Z. Co

H. z. cosa wRAPPINe MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June' 15, 1923 pemtoz HENRY Z. 005B 7 5 z l 3 wm m l.. w o e ,7 7. m @Z f 6v .v mmv E .Mw .W e 4 ww m s 2f E2 au f Bmw w WM5 h CM1 M0 .mm ww uw .HP d mm F May 159 3928.5-

May 155, 1928.

H.. Z. COB

WRAPPING MACHINE 4 sheets-sheet .4

Filed June '15. l 1925 L m mf 35% *ni/s @Home/n Patented May l5, 1928.

UNITED STATESk PATENT GFFECE.

HENRY Z. COBB, 0F THORNTON, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 THE MECHANICAL RUBBER COMPANY, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

wnarrme Maenner-i Application filed June 15, 1923. Serial No. 645,544.

This invention relates to a wrapping machine, more particularly to a machine for wrapping friction tape or similar shaped articles with lead foil or other material.'

Friction tape as usually put on the market is in the form of small i'olls, which in order to provide an easily removed covering and Vprevent access of air are usually wrapped with a material such as lead foil. Prior to my invention the wrapping has been accomplished by manual labor, which method is open to a number oi' objections. In performing the wrapping operation, the operator, usually female, places a pile of cut sheets of foil at one side of her, then removes the top sheet, places it on a table in front of her, disposes a roll of friction tape at the middle of the edge nearest her, which causes the` foil to adhere to the tape owing to the tackiness of the latter, and then rolls the article away from her under the palm of her hand. 'lhis causes the lead foil to be rolled up around the tape in the form of a cylinder with its ends projecting at each side of the tape. She then holds this cylinder in a vertical position, and places it forcibly on the table, thereby-[crushing or folding' in the lower end of the cylinder on the tape. Thisoperation is then repeated on another roll, and after crushing in the lower end of the second roll of tape it is forcibly placed on top of the first roll, thereby crushing or folding in the upper projecting wrapper portion of the lirst roll. As the operatives are paid by the ,piece they ordinarily work as rapidly'as possible, with consequent carelessness in the wrapping operation so that some of the rolls are not properly covered. Another objection is .that in her haste the operative will frequently remove more than one cut sheet from the pile. and as when placed in front of her these sheets are not likely to have their edges in exact alignment, when the tape roll is placed in position both sheets will be rolled up on it, thereby causing waste. Another serious objection is that thev operatives frequently develop lead poisoning, and as a result must be relatively highly paid for the character of the work. Moreover, an increase in the speed of the wrapping operation is greatly to be desired. v

An object of the invention is to increase the speed and accuracy of the process of wrapping friction tape or similar articles.

Another object is to obvi`ate the lead poisoning caused by the manual wrapping of friction tape with lead foil.

And still another objectv is to provide an automatic machine for wrapping friction tape and similar articles.

The machine consists generally of a means for feeding a continuous wrapper sheet and perforating the same at uniform intervals, means for tearing apart the sheet 'at the successive perforated portions to form individual wrappers, means for conveying these wrappers through the machine, means for disposing an article to be wrapped on each wrapper, and mea-ns for rolling up the wrapper on the article and folding in its ends.

For a complete disclosure of the invention reference is had to the accompanying specification and drawings, in which latter:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a'plan with parts broken away,

Fig. 3 is an end view with parts broken away,

Flg. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4 4; of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is 'a partial plan of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2,

, Fig. 7 is a detail of the actuating mechanism for the tape conveyor,

Fig. 8 is a section through the foil perforating rolls,

Fig. 9 is a the tape, and

Fig. 10 is a detail illustrating a change speed gear for use with different size tape rolls.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the two side frames of the machine, which are connected at one end by" a plate 2 and at the other, end by a bracket l3. At intermediate points the frames l are connected by the braces 4, and the entire frame-work is supported by the legs 5.

Adjacent one end of' the frame a transverse main drive shaft 6- is mounted, which is provided at one end with a drive pulley 7 and at the other end with a hand wheel 8. Rigidlv secured on the shaft 6 is a drive pulley 9 for the main conveyor belt of the machine, while adjacent the other end of the frame is the driven pulley i0 of the conveyor.

detailof the rail for rolling In order to take up slack in the conveyor the pulley is mounted on an eceentrlc shaft 11, and this shaft may be rotated to conveyor it is'carried on a small idlerv roll 15. v j

Mounted on the shaft 6 adjacent the pulley 9 is a mitre gear 16 meshing with a second mitre gear 17 carried on the longitudinal shaft 18. Secured on the shaft 18 is a. face cam 19 in the groove of which moves a cam roll 20 carried by a rock arm 21 (Fig. 7). The rock arm 21 is mounted at one end of a rock shaft 22, the other end of which carries a second rook arm 23 (Figs. l'and 7). The free end of arm 23 is connected by a link 24 with apwl arm 25, which latter is freely rotatable on the hub of a conveyor `drive pulley 26 rotatable on the shaft 18.

The pawl arm carries a pawl, 27 which is yieldingly held by a spring 28 in contact with. a ratchet wheel 29 rigidly secured to the pulley 26. A tape roll conveyor 30, which 1n the presentinstance is formed of an endless steel band, passes -at`one end over the pulley 26 and at the other end over a driven pulley 31 4). This latter is mounted on a shaft y32 carried by a supporting bracket 33, and to one end of shaft 32 a hand wheel 34 is secured. The upper side of conveyor passes lalon the bottom of A a tape roll feed rack 35 whlch is of channel beveled lower end o shape in cross-section, this rack being secured at one end to the bracket 33 and adjracent the other end to the side frame 1. `he latter end of the tape rack extends within the frame 1v some distance as most clearly shown in Fig. 4, and spaced fromA Also secured on'shaft 18 is a mitre gear 37 meshing with a second gear38 carried by the lower` end of avertical shaft 39, which latter is provided vat its upper end with a mitre gear 40 meshing with a mitre ear 41 on a transverse shaft 42. Pinned to s aft 42 (Figs. 2 and 6) is a sleeve 43 from which projects a tubular arm 44, and mounted in the latter is a sprin pressed do 45, the

which is adapted to engage a notch 49 in a rin 50. The ring 50 is rio'idly securedto a sleeve'lloosely mounted on shaft 42, rand projecting from sleeve 51 is a crank arm 52 to the outer end of which is pivotally secured a tape roll ejecting arm 53. From an intermediate point on the arm 53 a stud 54 projects, on which is mounted a cam roll 55 adapted to travel in a cam groove on the side face of cam 56. Cam 56 is loosely mounted on shaft 42, and in order to prevent rotation thereof it is provided with a projecting arm 57, in the slotted end of which is disposed a pin 58 secured to the'frame 1. Arm 53 revolves in a path midway between the end of rack 35 and stop 36.

Secured on .the shaft 42 is a spur gear 59 which drives a train of gears 60, 61 and 62, the latter in turn meshing with the drive gear 63 of a foil feed roll 64 mounted on the side frames 1. Cooperating with the roll 64 is anl idler roll 65, and in order that the pressure of this roll on the roll 64 may be varied itis mounted on an eccentric shaft 66, which latter may be adjusted .in a manner `similar to the shaft of the'conveyor pulley,

10, the only difference being that a hand knob 67 is substituted for the handle 12. Disposed below the rolls 64 and 65 is a removable U-shapedbearing bracket 68 for ysupporting a pair of foil perforating rolls.

rlhe arms of this bracket fit in recesses 69 in the side frames 1, and the Bracket is held in position by rods 70 pivoted on the frames l, the outer ends of which rods are adapted to be disposed between lugs 7l on the bearing bracket and held in position therein by wing nuts 72 threaded on the ends of therods.

Mounted in the arms of the bracket 68 are proper timmg relation may be maintained between the perforating rolls the roll 74 'is also driven by a gear 78 meshing with gear 77. Below the perforating rolls a ysecond pair of feed rolls 64 and 65 is disposed, which rolls are similar in all respects to the upper pair, and the lower roll 64 is also driven by a ear 63 meshing with gear 62. After the foi passes on to the conveyor 15 it is necessary for it to be gripped thereto for a purpose to be later explained, and to accomplish this a pair of idler rolls 79 and 80 are provided, the former being disposed below the conveyor and the latter above. In order to vary the gripping pressure, the roll 80 is mounted on an eccentric .shaft 81 which may be adjusted by a hand knob 82 ina manner similar to the rolls 65. At the opposite end of the machine from the feed rolls' a U-shaped bracket 83 is connected to the bracket 3, the arms of the bracket being slotted to provide bearings., for the arbor 84 of a roll 85 of lead foil. yThe foil 86 is drawn from this roll over the guide 87 down between the upper and lower feed rolls 64 veyor.

vas

and 65 and theperforating rolls 73 and 74, and is then fed on to the conveyor 15 and between the gripping roll 80 and the con Above the conveyor 15 and to the right of the stop 36 as shown in Fi 1, a tape roll guiding and rolling rail 88 1s suspended. This rail has a pair of suspending rods 89 pivotally connected thereto, which rods pass up loosely through brackets 90 and have threaded onl their upper ends wing nuts 01 bearing against the tops of the brackets, The end of the rail adjacent stop 36 is inl,lineddownwardly as shown at 92 (Fig. 1) and this downwardly inclined end is slotted as shown at 93 in Fig. 2 to allowarin 53 to revolve, the slot being of a width sufficient to accommodate a tape roll without friction. This slot is disposed in axial alignment with the space between the end of tape roll feed rack 35 and the stop 36. On its bottom the rai] 88 is provided with a channel 94 of the same width slot 93, the bottom of which channel is turned upwardly as shown at 95 at the point where it merges into yslot 93. The side walls 96 of the channel 94 are not of uniform depth but are relatively shallow .adjacent the slot. 93 and incline to a gradually increasing depth at the discharge end of the rail. the rail is a downwardly curved spring guide 97. Supporting the conveyor 15 below.k the rail 88 is a plate 97.

Secured on the shaft 6 at the end adjacent hand wheel 8 is a spur 'gear 98 which through the idler gear 99 drives a gear 100 on shaft 101. Mounted on the latter shaft are oppositely faced mitre gears 102 and 103 A`meshing respectively with gears 104 and 105 on vertical shafts 106 and 107. The shafts 106 and 107 are mounted in bracket 3 and carry the respective finishing rolls 108 and 109, which rolls are spaced apart suiiiciently lto allow the 'passage of a wrapped tape roll between them, the latter then passing out of the machine through' the opening 11.0.

In some cases it may be desirable tovary the speed of the feed and perforating rolls to take care of different sizes of tape rolls, and in Fig. 10 there is shown one embodiment of a change speed gear mechanism having two different speeds. In this `form the spur'gear 59 on shaft y42 meshes 'with a gear 111 slmilar to gear but having a broadened driving face. The gear 111 as shown in Fig. 10 meshes with a gear 112 mounted on a longitudinally adjustable shaft, which gear meshes with a` second gear 113 meshing in turn with the gear 63 on the feed roll \64. Carried on the same shaft as gear 112 is a second gear 114, andmounted on the shaft with ear 113 is a second lgear 115. When it is deslred to change the speed gears 112 and 114 are moved over so as to disconnect gear 112 from gear l113 and to mesh gear 114 with Secured to the discharge end of` gear 115. It is obvious, however, that any suiible speed changing mechanism may be use Inl operation the foil sheet 86` from roll 85 is drawn` down between the feed rolls 64 and through the perforating rolls as above stated until its endrests on the conveyor I5. hand by wheel 8 until the end of the foil sheet has been passed under roll 80. It will be seen that in the train of gears 59, 60, 61, 62 and 77 the peripheral speed will be the same throughout, and as gear 77 is the same size as gear 59 these two will also have the same angular velocity. Hence, at each revolution of the perforating rolls a series of perforationsl will be made in the foil sheet, and at each revolution of shaft 42 the tape roll ejecting arm 53 will pass once between the stop 36 and the end of the tape feed rack 35. Due to the cam 56,`the end of arm 53 when passing between stop 36 and rack 35 will be moving in substantially a horizontal '(lircction. The speed of conveyor 15 is somewhat in excess of twice the surface speed of feed rolls 64 and 65, hence, when the operator has fed the end of the foil sheet beneath the gripping roll 80 that portion of the sheet is gripped to the conveyor and starts to move at the same speed, thereby causingthe foil sheet to break apart at the first row of erforations in the rear of the., grip ing ro ler.

lThe torn off portion of the` foil s eet is then i preferably. rubber covered. The machine is then started and as the foil sheet passes be- The machine is then turned over by tween the perforating rolls it receives a series of perforations spaced at uniform intervalsl, and Aasfthe forward end of each per-V forated portion is gripped by the roll 80 it is detached from the succeedingportion and fed forwardly beneath the rail 88. A s the forward end of each foil portion reaches this position the arm 53 engages' ay tape roll in contact with stop 36' and ejects the saine so that itfalls upon the forward end of the foil sheetwhile heldin a vertical'position in the slot 93. Due to the tacky nature of the tape roll the end of the foil adheres to it, and as the roll and foil sheetl are carried forward by the cor 'feyor the upper portion, of the roll passes beneath the 11p-turned end 95 of channel 94, thereb sli htly lifting the rail 88. This rail is o su cient weight to bear down on the top of the roll with considerable friction, and as the'bottom of the roll and between the linishing rolls 108 and 109, 'which completely roll or fold inthe projecting ends of the foil on the tape roll, and the latter is ejected through the opening 110 into any suitable receptacle or onto a conveyor At each' actuation of the tape roll feed conveyor 30 it is moved a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the tape roll, so that as the end roll 4contacts with the sto 36 there will be a slight slippage of thel rol s on the conveyor. In this manner slight vdifferences in the thickness of the taperolls are taken care of. The actuating cam for the drive pulley 26 of the tape feed conveyor is so designed as to Give a maximum time for the forward actuation of the ratchet 29 and a minimum time for the withdrawal of pawl 27 on the ratchet. By this arrangement there is a slow and uniform forward feed of the tape conveyor 30 so as to minimize s'lippage of the tape rolls thereon. -By reason of the construction shown in Fig.6 there is a yielding drive connection between shaft 42 and the tape roll ejecting arm 53, and if for any reason the arm 53 should become obstructed or jammed by a tape roll the shaft 42 is free to turn, as the spring pressed dog 45 will then slip out of the notch 49 and make a complete revolution before again en'- gaging the notch. If the machine lhas not been stopped in the meantime or the obstruction removed the dog 45 will continue toy operate in the same manner.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, which is particularly adapted for the wrapping of friction tape with lead foil, it is obvious that the invention in its broader aspects is `not so limited and the machine may be readily applied for the wrapping ofother ar- `forth in the appended claims.

f Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire-to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A wrapping machine comprising means for horizontally feeding alwrapper, means for depositing a circular article thereon, means cooperating with said first means for simultaneously disposing the wrapper around the article by a rolling movement and partially folding -in the ends of the wrapper, and roller means for completely folding in t-he ends of thewrapper on the article.

s 2. A wrapping machine comprising flexible-means4 for conveying individual Wrappers, means for superposing a circular article on one end of a wrapper, a guide slotted at one end for properly locating the article on the wrapper, said guide including meanscooperating with the yconveying means for rolling up the wrapper on the article, and

means for flattening the ends` of the Wrapper on the article.

3. In a vwrapping machine, a conveyor, means for supplying wrappers successively thereto, means for deliverin a circular article on'eachwrapper, slotte movable means disposed above the conveyor for centering and frictionally engaging the article to thereby reversely roll the article and wrapper with respect to the conveyor, and roller means for flattening the ends of the wrapper.

4. In a wrapping machine, a main conveyor, drive means therefor, means for supplying wrappers thereto, an article feed conveyor, means for transferring an article therefrom lto each wrapper, an automaticallydisengageable driving connection between said last means and the drive means, and means for enclosing the article in its wrap Pel'- s In a wrapping machine',I a main' con-v veyor, drive means therefor, means for supplying wrappers thereto, an article feed conveyor, a rotary arm for transferringan article ytherefrom to one'end )f each wrapper,` an automatically disengageable driving connection between said arm and. the drive means, and means for enclosing the article in its wrapper. A

6.` In a wrapping machine, a main conveyor, means for supplying wrappers thereto, a'ilexible article feed conveyor extending transversely across said main conveyor, a stopfor positioning an article thereon centrally of the main conveyor, means'for transferring the positioned article to the forward end of a wrapper, and means for enclosing the article in the wrapper.

7. In a wrapping Jmachi`ne,a main conveyor, means for supplying wrappers thereto, a flexible article feed conveyor extending transversely across 'said main conveyor` a stop for positioning an article thereon centra ly of the main conveyor, rotary means for transferring the positioned article to the forward end of a wrapper, and means co-l operatingwith the main conveyor for enclosing the article in the wrapper.

8. In a Wrapping machine, a main conveyor, means for feeding a wrapper thereon, means for disposinga circular article on the forward end of the wrapper, and a guide rail. yieldingly suspended above the conveyor, said rail having a guide notch for the article at one end and a guide channel in its bottom leading from said notch, the side walls of said channel being of progressively greater depth.

9. ln a Wrapping/machine. a main con veyor, means for feeding a wrapper thereon, means for disposing a circular article on the forward end of the Wrapper, a guide rail yieldingly suspended above the conveyor adjacent said last means, said rail having a guide notch for the reception of the article and a guide channel in its bottom leading from said notch, the side walls of said channel being of progressively greater depth,

and a pair of spaced vertical wrapper folding rolls adjacent the end of said rail.

10. In a wrapping machine, means for l feeding a continuous Wrapper sheet, means for perforating the sheet at uniform intervals, a conveyor' for receiving the sheet, means cooperating therewith for parting the sheet at the successive perforated portions into separate wrappers, means for depositing a circular article on each Wrapper, means coopera( ing with the conveyor for rolling up the wrapper on the article, and means for folding in the ends of the wrapper.

11. In a wrapping machine, a main conveyor` means for feeding a perforated wrapper sheet thereto at a speed less than that of the conveyor, means for temporarily 'gripping the free end of the sheet to the conveyor, whereby a portionmay be torn ol at a succeeding perforated point, means for depositing a circular article on the forward end of the torn off portion, and means cooperating vvith the conveyor for enclosing the article in said portion.

` Signed at Providence, county `of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, this 31st day of May, 1923.

- HENRY Z. COBB. 

